Using Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, the
Mountain View, California company awarded a $1 million-grant for hybrid
electric vehicle development and plans on offering up to $10 million in grants
to support the vehicles. The RechargeIT initiative "aims to reduce
CO2 emissions, cut oil use and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating
the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid
technology."

Companies and universities interested in the grant money for alternative transportation
research will have to present official proposals to Google later this summer.

"Climate Change: mitigate the effect of climate change on the poor
by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency, and
supporting clean energy sources," is published on the front page of the official Google.org web site.

Several companies -- including Toyota, Honda and General Motors -- are actively
working on plug-in hybrid vehicles.

In other environmental news, Google recently turned on the solar panels which
cover much of the roof tops on the company's Mountain View corporate
campus. The panels are able to produce up to 1.6 megawatts of energy,
which is enough to offer as much as one-third of the entire campuses energy
use.